Letters to the Editor: September 3, 2014

Ramen Wandering

Yee-haw! It's great to hear of another ramen place in the Redwood Empire ("Soup Ninjas,"
Aug. 27), even if it's a bimonthly pop-up (yet I who am I to bad-mouth a good slurping opportunity!). But the "ramen injustice" you cited may be more about a lack of wandering than a lack of ramen. So here's hoping to start a list: 1. Shige, Cotati, absolutely outstanding ramen, and bright, cut-right sushi too.
2. Yao-Kiku in Santa Rosa has good ramen at good prices, and a broad menu of other Japanese food.

Now you go. Give two more, or I wont give you another.

P.S.: Don't feel bad about missing the other places. The Press Democrat's Bite Club actually complained that there weren't enough pho places in Sonoma County, and we have more noodle houses than noncorporate burger joints.

—Redwood

Via online

Standing in Solidarity

The Santa Rosa–Sonoma County NAACP, the Peace & Justice Center of Sonoma County, the Police Accountability Clinic and Helpline, the Justice Coalition for Andy Lopez and the North Coast Coalition for Palestine thank the national board of the NAACP for their efforts in seeking transparency and justice for those killed at the hands of local police, particularly Michael Brown. Our hearts are saddened and our minds filled with outrage as the war machines and militaristic tactics moved on citizens in peaceful protest.

We stand in solidarity with you in your continuing efforts to seek justice for Michael Brown and so many others. Here, in Sonoma County, we have worked since 1999 to expose the documented 64 citizens who have lost their lives or been wounded in similar circumstances. That number includes a broad range of ages and ethnicities. One of the most recent involved Andy Lopez, a 13-year-old Latino child. At the very least, you have gained the attention of the U.S. Justice Department. We have not.

We send this message in solidarity to encourage everyone to continue the struggle, for we believe the death of Michael Brown and the events of Ferguson—like those here—will strengthen our united fight for justice and fair and equal treatment. In peace, unity and solidarity!

—Susan Lamont

Peace and Justice Center of
Sonoma County

Arm the Boy Scouts, Save America

I was in the Boy Scouts when I was 14 years old. We would have loved to have weapons to protect our world ("Spoils of War," Aug. 27). The difference is that we were trained to use weapons for hunting or self-defense. Something has gone wrong.

—The Father Figure

Via online

Wrongfully Diagnosed

In the 1970s, Alexander Solzhenitsyn warned the world about totalitarian government's miscategorization of those who outspokenly oppose a government's "oppressive evils" in his book The Gulag Archipelago. Although written about the Soviet Union's use of the mental health system as a means of falsely diagnosing and removing from society individuals brave enough to vocalize their opposition, I feel quite definitely that numerous parallels can be drawn to tactics currently used in the U.S.

Wrongfull diagnosed persons have been "medicated" and all too often sent to mental institutions (or confined in the "mental parts" of local jails) throughout the country. Such misuse of mental-health resources has become far more prevalent in post-9-11 America.

I am 50 years old and am adamantly opposed to all wars (including the war on drugs), all imperialism, all bigotry, all sexism, all racism, all religious intolerance, all nukes (warheads and reactors) and any misuse of the mental health system, whether as a means to discredit politically unpopular opinions or persons, or as a means of perpetuating the profits of pharmaceutical interests.

I know: it takes a tremendous amount of spiritual, mental, and physical strength to stay true to one's principles in the face of adversity. I urge others, whoever you may be, to remain strong and keep the faith.

P.S.: To the Bohemian: Please never insist that letters to the editor arrive as emails only, as is the case with some other papers in the North Bay. Allowing handwritten letters ensures that a more inclusive body of contributors (including the incarcerated).